About Us

A welcome from the Founding Director

Great communities are intentional, not accidental.

The Nelson and Sue Andrews Institute for Civic Leadership is an academic incubator that launches students who are prepared to launch civic change. Built on the leadership legacy of one of Nashville’s most influential city builders, Nelson Andrews, the institute is one of a small handful of academic resources in the nation that offer a master’s degree specifically in civic leadership preparation, the kind of comprehensive preparation that brings together the power of government, business and nonprofit engagement. The institute is fueled by students who enter, interface with and actively engage the leadership community–locally, regionally and nationally–from the first week of their studies to the last.

But even more, the institute itself builds community. By bringing together leaders in the government, business and nonprofit sectors to work for the common good, it has set the community table richly with key collaborations and citizen engagements that are already impacting communities statewide and beyond.

Join us. You will discover this is, indeed, a place where better places are begun.

Linda SchachtFounding Director, Institute for Civic Leadership

In addition to its academic program, Lipscomb’s Institute for Civic Leadership also launched or hosted

Citizen Leadership Academy, an ongoing signature program to develop informed citizens to lead public conversations on community issues and public policy, such as the most recent, mass transit.

Leadership Tennessee, the only statewide leadership education program in Tennessee to cultivate a network of business, nonprofit, education and government leaders committed to addressing the state's challenges and opportunities.

CABLE Leadership Academy, a program in leadership building developed in partnership with Middle Tennessee’s largest women’s networking organization.

Collaboration College, a yearlong initiative to encourage collaboration among nonprofits in Middle Tennessee to achieve common goals.

Governor’s Summit on Aging, a partnership with Lipscomb’s School of TransformAging to convene public, private and nonprofit leaders to address care for the aging, the first group of its kind in the state.

Translating the Dream, a collaboration with Lipscomb’s College of Education and community organizations keenly interested in finding ways to benefit from the strength and diversity of Middle Tennessee’s growing population of new Americans.